Slicer for bread loaves



Oct. 14, 1941. scHLE 2,259,427

- SLICER FOR BREAD LOAVES Filed June 25, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Hyena/ mBY WW ATTORNEY O 14,1941} P. G. SCHLEMMER 2,259,427

SLICER FOR BREAD vIiOl-WES Filed June 25, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORATTORNEY Patented Oct. 14, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT O FLFICE 2,259,427SLICER F OR BREAD LOAVES Phil G. Schlemmer, Nanuet, N. Y.,"assignor toAmerican Machine & Foundry Company, a cor notation of New Jersey iApplication June 25, 1937, Serial No. 150,217 7 6 Claims. (Cl. 146 153)This invention relates to a method of slicing articles of a consistencysimilar to that of loaves of bread, cake and the like, and also relatesto a machine for slicing bread and the like, and more particularly tosuch a machine of the known type havin one or more sets of knives eachof which frames is reciprocated in an upright path, the loaves of breadbeing advanced in a path which intersects the upright path of the knivesat what may be designated briefly as the slicing station.

It is usual, in the operation of conventional bread slicers of theaforesaid known type, exemplified by that disclosed in the co-pendingapplication of Robert J. Beutel, Serial No. 752,344, filed November 9,1934, and which has matured as Letters Patent No. 2,141,947, issuedDecember 27, 1938, to utilize a type of loaf feed such that the loavestravel through the slicer at a given rate of speed which is irrespectiveof the harmonic motion of the reciprocating knives. The loaves are thusfed past the knives even while the latter are standing still at theircyclical phases where slicing movement is arrested by the reversal ofreciprocatory direction of movement of the knives.

Most, if not all, slicers of this general reciprocating type tend attimes to produce slices characterized by more or less Wavy and unevenslice faces due tothe fact that the loaves are being fed through theknives more or less constantly, while the knives in the courseof eachcomplete reciprocation, pass from zero to maximum speed, owing to thechanges in direction of movement of the knives as they pass through eachcycle of their harmonic movement.

Under such conditions, it is an outstanding object of the presentinvention to provide a loaf feed which will result in the production ofloaves that are free from such wavy surfaces, by causing the loaves toadvance only when the slicer device is moving; and according to whichthe loaf feed is incapacitated and the loaves stand stil1 momentarilyduring each period of knife reversal.

An object of ancillary importance is to provide a method of slicing suchloaves which will assure harmonic conformity between the rate ofreciprocatory slicer action and the rate of feed of the loaves to, andthrough, the slicing station.

Another object is to provide a slicer of improved structure, and inpursuance of this object provision is made of a set of endless feedingmembers, such as rolls, and preferably a series of supporting rolls iscombined with aseries of top rolls, and two series of side rolls mayalso be provided, to effect positively the feed of the loaves, so as toavoid the loaf-feeding at undesired times, and also to effect theaccurate presentation of the loaves during the elfective slicing phaseof each recurrent operative cycle.

Still another object is to provide for coordinated adjustment of theseveral feed-roll sets included in a machine constructed in accordancewith the present invention; also to provide for the proper slicing ofdifferent standard sizes of loaves, and to compensate for minordisconformities from the standard dimensions of a given loaf. size whichmay be encountered from timeto time in the slicing of individual loaves.

In pursuance of the invention, the last-named variations are preferablycared for by making the loaf-feeding rolls of resilient material, suchas sponge rubber; and by setting the rolls for the minimum. dimensionsof each loaf size.

Other obi'ects'and features of the invention will be brought to light asthe description of the particular physical embodiment selected to i1-lustrate the invention progresses.

In the accompanying drawings, like characters have been applied tocorresponding parts through the several views which make up thedrawings, in which:

' Fig. 1 is a View of a somewhat schematic character in sectional sideelevation of a bread-slicing machine of the reciprocating type, in theconstruction: of which the present invention has been embodied.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail view in vertical section taken on thebroken line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view, in plan, taken on the line 3-3 ofFig. 1;

' Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. l of a slicing machine in theconstruction of which the present invention has been embodied;

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 2 of a modification; and

Fig. 6 is a view in horizontal section, taken on line 66 of Fig. 5.

In the now-preferred embodiment of the invention selected forillustration and description, the part designated generally by thereference character S is a slicing unit of the type disclosed in theaforesaid co-pending application for U. S. Letters Patent.

A slicing unit of the character illustrated in detail in the abovementioned application for Letters Patent is operated by a crank shaft 5.turningin bearings 6 of. a crank case I, and actuating through rods 8,8', the vertical shafts 9,

' of frame 12. F V 25' engaging with ratches 26, 2'6" fasten shaft '23dles l3, I3 carrying the slicer knives l4, 14'. To the flywheel l5 oncrank shaft 5 i fastened a concentric stud l6 carrying an eccentric discI! which turns in the eccentric sleeve [8. The latter is pivoted to oneend of a rocker arm [9 swinging on a stud attached to frame l2. Therocker arm I9, by means of two rods 2|, 2| adjustably attached toopposite sides of its fulcrum 20, is connected to two arms 22, 22'loosely mounted on a shaft 23 turnable in-a bearing '24 The arm 22. 22carry pawls 25,

to which is also affixed a sprocket 2 1. The latter, by means of a chain28 and a sprocket 29 drives a through-shaft 30 supported in bearings3|,3l'offramel2.

The shaft 3|] actuates all the elements of the loaf feed, which mayconsist-of numbers of individual rollers -or of corresponding sets ofend rollers connected byf-be'lts, as illustrated. In the drawings, twosets of bottom roller-s, one set 32 "in front of the "knives, and asecondset 32 in f their rear, are shown, e150 two sets 'of top rollers33 and-33', and four sets of side rollers 34, 34 and "35, 35' (see Fig.3). The bottom rollers, 32, 32', which are supported in frames-35, 3tform a continuation betweenth-e inclined flights '31 and 3'8 of the leafconveyor which bring the unsliced loaves L to the slicer and take thesliced loaves away from it. The side-rollers are supported inhorizon-tally adjustable frames 39, 40

- attached to the side frames l2 =(see Fig. 3), the

slidable parts-of the frames 39 and 4B permitting the side rollers to beadjusted for-different loaf lengths. The top-rollers 33, 33" aresupported in frames 4|, 42, suspended from rods 43slidable in slots 43of frame '12 (seeFig. l) permitting vertical adjustment of the same, bywing nuts 44 (see Fig. '4),

heights. 7

A sprocket 45 onish'aft .38, by a chain 46 and sprockets 4'1 and '48drives a :shaft '49 supported inzanbeari'ngtfifl offrame l2, and a shaft5| supported in bearings 52 and 52'v :of'fram'e 12. The shaft 49 hasagear '53 meshing 'with a gear 54 on 'the'front end of shaft 55 of'bottom'roller .3-2, the shaft55ontits:other-end carrying :a sprocket 56connected by a chain 51 with ,a sprocket 58 r on the shaft of theadjacent roller whichin turn,

bya chain 59 011 the front end, drives the next roller, and so on, Fig.3. The lastroller of set 32' through a chain 160,;drives the sprocket SIof the first roller of set 32, andthis, in turnyby a chain 62 drives thesecond roller, and so on to the last bottom roller 32 which receives theloaf'L.

Each of the through-shafts 3 0 and :5 I carries two spiral gears, 63 and54, one right hand and one left hand, one at the inside of .eachof thebearings 31, 3'5" and52, '52, these spiral-gears meshing with spiralgears 65 and '66 on vertical shafts 6'1, and 68 supported in thestationary parts -of the 'iadjustable frames '39, and 40. Sprockets 69and *HI =on-shafts-61 and B8 drive chains H and I2 passing oversprocke'ts 13 on the shafts cf-all the side rollers in each set, -.thusdriving the side rollers insynchronism'with the hottomrollers; Each of-the-ch-ains 11,42 runs ever anadjustable idleflm (seeFig. 3) ,supported-in -a s'lot i'n the is lidable-part of frames 39and ting these'"chainsto fcllow any adjustment' of the side toners.

to accommodate various loaf mam A sprocket 15 on shaft 39, Fig. 4, by achain it running over an adjustable idler T1 drives a sprocket 18 on thefront end of shaft 19 of top roller 33. The latter, by a sprocket and achain Bl at its rear end, drives the second roller which through a chain82 at its front end drives the third roller, and so on through chains83, 84, 85 and 86 at alternate ends to the last roller. The'idler 1'! issupported in a slot of an arm 81 loosely mounted on shaft 30 and held inposition by an extension 88 fastened to the inside any adjustment of thetop rollers for different heights of loaves.

=During each half-revolution of the crank shaft 5 one of the pawls 25advances by one stroke of the respective rod 21, both pawls being atrest when the knives M are reversing. By adjusting the position of therods 2| on rocket arm [9, the length of their stroke and thereby theforwardlspeedof fthe loaves L while passing through the slicer can bevaried toobtainbest cutting results under different conditions;

From the foregoing disclosure it will be understood readily thatprovision is made for avoidingsubstantially the disadvantages ofproducing sliced loaves of bread with wavy slice faces, and forproducing loaves of bread with evenly face-d slices; also that thisdesirable result has been attained by the novel method of causing theslicing :and loaf-feed to act in harmonic conformity with each other;and that improved apparatus of the re'ciprocatory slicing type has beenprovided to carry the aforesaid method into effect.

:It is to :be understood that While "I have disclosed what I"believe tobe the best embodiment of the-presen-t invention now known to me,nevertheless the particular physical embodiment herein illustrated anddescribed is notto -be considered as-eiihausting the possibleembodiments of the basic idea of means underlying theinvention. I

For example, in Figs. 5 and 6, are illustrated several modifications ofthe above structure which may be provided to add to the efficiency orslicing mechanism of the class described.

In the structure shown in both of the lastmentioned figures, provisionis made of an aux iliary-horizont-al plate 88 of comb-like character,the leading edge of which -is slotted, as at 8811, to fit t'he spacesbetween the upright knife blades :14 and i4. Y 4

Each of the slots S'fid terminates in an enlarge-ment orciffice -88!)which affords clearance for crumbs broken away {from the slices 'bytheattrition of the knife-blades i i and-14. An extension ttabf the framepart 36 "serves to support the aukiliarly plate at each end thereof.

The aiiriliaryplateis provided, as at 83, with stu s fia fromwhichextend veccentric'rods'iill to crank pins 9-! mounted on collars orhubs 13a, on, and rotatable with, the upright. guide rolls 35a and 33's, respectively. jAhsprocket wheel 13a is provid-ed'cn the shafts ofrolls .3 30. and

fto effec-tfrotationby the chains "H, '12.

-W lth each suchirotation, the auxiliary plate is osc' latedftq-arrdfro; and .tends, as it is advanced, to aid in-fee'dingthe loaf to theknives. When retracted, it makes the full opening of each orifice e812--available to clear the crumbs; an v the oggi gaction promotesan'elfective cooperation-pf -t-h'e working "parts, and "also "shakesthe'loaf forward, shakes the crumbs down, and

avoids adhesions of any contiguous relatively moving parts.

In Fig. is shown at 33a an end roll or the upper feeding set which isprovided with a series of circumferential grooves, as 33a, each enteredby one of the knife blades of the series I4 and of the series Mrespectively; this grooved roll constituting an endless moving feedingmeans projecting into the spaces between the knives to steady andadvance the loaf, and to steady the knives 8 a certain extent.

What is claimed is:

1. A bread slicing machine of the class described: said machinecomprising a reciprocating slicing device; and feeding mechanismincluding at least one set of rolls for supporting said loavessuccessively as they are advanced sidewise to the slicing device, andanother set of top rolls; also a pair of sets of rolls engaged with theends of said loaves, and means to drive all of said sets in unison toexert propulsive action upon all exposed faces of the loaves before andafter slicing.

2. A bread slicing machine of the class described: said machinecomprising a reciprocating slicing device; and feeding mechanismincluding at least one set of rolls for supporting said loavessuccessively as they are advanced sidewise to the slicing device, andanother set of top rolls; also a pair of sets of rolls engaged with theends of said loaves, and means for actuating said rolls and forco-ordinating the operations of the several sets; said actuatingmechanism including a main driving member; a countershaft for each ofsaid sets, all geared to said driving member; and a driving chain foreach set of rolls, each chain being intergeared with the rolls of a setand with the corresponding countershaft for said set.

3. A bread slicing machine of the class described: said machinecomprising a reciprocating slicing device; and feeding mechanismincluding at least one set of rolls for supporting said loavessuccessively as they are advanced sidewise to the slicing device, andanother set of top rolls; also a pair of sets of rollers engaged withthe ends of said loaves, and means for actuating said rolls and forco-ordinating the operations of the several sets; said actuatingmechanism including a main driving member; a countershaft for each ofsaid sets all geared to said driving member; and a driving chain foreach set of rolls, each chain being intergeared with the rolls of a setand with the corresponding countershaft for said set, and means tosupport said countershafts in bodily adjustable disposition, and meansto cause corresponding adjustments of said chains, to effect the slicingof loaves diifering in dimensions.

4. A bread slicing machine of the class described: said machinecomprising a reciprocating slicing device of the gang-knife type; andmeans to support each loaf as it passes through the slicing station,including an auxiliary plate of comb-like structure, having projectionsdisposed in the spaces between the knives, and adapted to support theslices as they are formed; and means to oscillate said auxiliary plateto and fro relatively to the knives, in a plane contiguous to that ofthe loaf bottom, thereby aiding to advance the loaf.

5. A bread slicing machine of the class described: said machinecomprising a reciprocating slicing device of the gang-knife type; andmeans to support each leaf as it passes through the slicing station,including an auxiliary plate of comb-like structure, having projectionsdisposed in the spaces between the knives, and adapted to support theslices as they are formed; and means to oscillate said auxiliary plateto and fro relatively to the knives, in a plane contiguous to that ofthe loaf bottom, thereby aiding to advance the loaf, and a series oforifices in said plate, each in alignment with a knife and adapted toafford clearance through said plate for crumbs removed from the loaf byattrition of the slicing knives.

6. A bread slicing machine of the class described: said machinecomprising a reciprocating slicing device of the gang-knife type; andmeans to support each loaf as it passes through the slicing station,including an auxiliary plate of comb-like structure, having projectionsdisposed in the spaces between the knives, and adapted to support theslices as they are formed; and means to oscillate said auxiliary plateto and fro relatively to the knives, in a plane contiguous to that ofthe loaf bottom, thereby aiding to advance the loaf, and a series oforifices in said plate, each in alignment with a knife and adapted toafiord clearance through said plate for crumbs removed from the loaf byattrition of the slicing knives, said orifices being in communicationwith the spaces between said projections of the comb-like structure, andso arranged as to permit entrance of the cutting edges of the knivesinto the orifices,

PHIL G. SCILEEMMER.

